Healthcare Companies Dominate Early IPO Activity in 2014

Healthcare companies have dominated IPO activity so far in 2014. Through the first two months of the year, 21 VC-backed companies have completed initial public offerings (IPO) on a U.S. stock exchange, with an overwhelming 20 of those companies coming out of the healthcare industry, according to PitchBook. The pharmaceuticals & biotechnology sector has produced 14 of the VC-backed companies to have gone public in the U.S. this year, already accounting for more than one-third of last year’s VC-backed pharma & biotech IPO total. PitchBook provides a list of every VC-backed company that has gone public on a U.S. stock exchange so far this year, categorized by IPO size.

However, when we look back on venture capital landscape in either Bay Area or globally, it signifies the domination by Healthcare companies in 2014. According to PitchBook “Bay Area’s Share of Global VC Deal FlowShrinking“, “the Bay Area, the global hub of venture capital activity, saw a 10.6% decline in deal flow from 1,370 financings in 2012 to 1,225 in 2013”. And “much of the slump in deal activity can be attributed to a 12.7% drop in the number of rounds for software companies, in addition to similar declines among media and healthcare devices & supplies companies.” It goes the same in Europe and the rest of the world that healthcare companies were listed in the second place as “Sector Breakdown”.

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